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Smallball is the NBA’s newest favourite phrase and strategy. You don’t need to look any further than last season’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers to see the effectiveness of the technique.
While basketball traditionalists believed the most effective way of playing ball is the original way – two guards, two forward and a centre – the Warriors proved that is no longer the case.
Trailing 2-1 in the 2015 finals, something had to change. The Cavs were troubled with injuries and were forced to play a – believe it or not – traditional line-up. Two guards (Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert), two forwards (LeBron James and Tristan Thompson) and a centre (Timofey Mozgov.)
Coming into the crucial Game 4, Golden State needed to make adjustments. Cleveland’s grind-it-out defence and half-court offensive attack had the Warriors’ fast-paced, free-flowing offence in shambles.
It seemed like the pundits of this smallball, jump-shooting era (I’m looking at you Charles Barkley) were about to be proven correct.
Then Golden State pulled seven-foot centre Andrew Bogut out of the starting line-up, replacing him with 6’6 wing Andre Iguodala.
It was a stroke of genius, as Igoudala went on to win finals MVP, and the Warriors smallball attack sent the grind-out Cavaliers home.
The Warriors’ success with their small line-up made the top selections at the NBA draft the very next month so much more intriguing.
With more and more teams searching for the magic formula and mix of personal to be able to run smallball efficiently, three of the top four draft picks were bigs. Karl-Anthony Towns (Pick 1, Minnesota Timberwolves), Jahlil Okafor (Pick 3, Philadelphia 76ers) and Kristaps Porzingis (Pick 4, New York Knicks) were the headliners, and the trio have taken the league by storm this season, making for a contrast between the current contenders, who are playing waves of smallball line-ups, and future contenders, who are building around dominant bigs who can affect the game in a variety of ways.
When looking further into this seasons rookie class, a trend begins to develop. Some of the more effective rookies are bigs, such as Nikola Jokic (who has selected in the 2014 draft but played overseas for a year and is currently in his rookie season with the Denver Nuggets), Myles Turner (Pick 11, Indiana Pacers), Bobby Portis (Pick 22, Chicago Bulls) and Willie Cauley-Stein (Pick 6, Sacramento Kings).
So, what gives? Why in an era where smallball is a proven strategy, are so many teams opting to draft bigs and build around them, rather than using analytics and a ‘moneyball’ way of thinking to build a team full of smaller players?
Because these aren’t the same big men from the 1990s, who back you down in the post and bully you with physical strength and power. No, these are a group of bigs who rely on athleticism, outside shooting and finesse around the basket to dominate.
As crazy as it may sound, today’s younger generation of big men are built to play like smaller guards. As in any walk of life, using old methods rarely work once a new one rolls around. Big men trying to break into the NBA have realised this and have started developing their games differently to their predecessors.
Let’s focus in on the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, Towns.
The Kentucky alma mater has been playing at All-Star level this season, averaging 16.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game for the young Wolves.
Towns isn’t playing at this elite level by pounding his body in the low post and using pure strength to overpower his peers. Instead, the man they call KAT is using his outside touch and guard-like handles to keep defenders on their feet.
Towns’ basketball IQ has been highlighted around the league, so it makes sense that Towns has metamorphosed himself into a sublime big who is destroying the league in an era where so many bigs struggle to.
Towns has developed a deadly mid-range jumper, as he connects on 48 per cent of his shots from between the paint and the three-point line. 41 per cent of his shots come from this area. Towns can even extend his game to beyond the three-point line, hitting 38 per cent of his threes, even though just 7 per cent of his shots come from downtown.
Towns’ athleticism allows him to run up and down the floor and be just as effective as a guard when playing in a smaller line-up. While he can still use his excellent post-moves to score, Towns understands the league is trending away from that style of ball and he has calibrated his game in order to dominate the NBA landscape using moves rarely seen from bigs.
Porzingis is another example of this cultural change.
Standing at a monstrous 7 foot, 3 inches, the general consensus around Porzingis would be for him to build up a muscular frame and use his size and strength in the low post. It makes a lot of sense, as finding a defender who could handle someone with that frame and muscular build would be almost impossible.
The problem is, the NBA can’t accommodate bigs who play that way anymore. No longer do you see bigs operating from solely in the low post anymore. Heck, take a look at the NBA’s best big men – Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Blake Griffin all have the skill to take the outside jumper, and use their athleticism to get to the rim in a variety of ways.
Porzingis is an example of how bigs coming into the league can establish themselves from day one and not be considered liabilities.
When you watch the Latvian play, you need to check twice to confirm that he stands at over seven feet. Shooting threes at a rate where the defence simply can’t leave him open? Check. Receiving the ball out on the perimeter and then using dribble moves to get to the basket? Check. Flying in from behind a pack of players to slam home a ferocious put-back dunk? Check.
Ben Woodside, a teammate of Porzingis when he played in Europe, praised his skills as a big to Slam magazine: “I just sat there, and I’m like, ‘Coming from a 7-footer?’ It was just eye-opening.”
It is also eye-opening to see how teams and players today are moving away from the old-school style of ball (apart from the Memphis Grizzlies of course) and embracing the smallball era, which has been mastered by the Warriors. The NBA is a copycat league. One team does something successful and all other 29 teams will try to copy that, while adding their personal touches.
This is what you are witnessing with this crop of rookie bigs, who have taken the league by storm by transforming their games to play small, as bigs.
Confused yet? So are the defenders trying to guard them.
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